


Worried Sick

by Punk_Grape



Category: Splatoon
Genre: Gen, Hospitalization, Paediatrics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-11
Updated: 2020-03-11
Packaged: 2021-02-28 19:14:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23102302
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Punk_Grape/pseuds/Punk_Grape
Summary: Nothing is more alarming than a child waking you at three am because they’re sick.
Kudos: 3





	Worried Sick

It was three am, everyone was supposed to be asleep, yet a young inkling sat up in bed, hugging himself as he debated waking his parents. On one hand, he felt miserable, and very much wanted the comfort of his parents; on the other, he didn’t want to wake them, disturb their sleep because he felt unwell. He hadn’t slept yet, having tried and failed several times to lay down, every time it had ended with him feeling even worse. Finally, he couldn’t take any more, and gently left his bed, trying not to make a sound, even though his parents would be awake soon enough. 

At first, the knock could be barely heard, the soft pounding on their door didn’t register to either parent. Having heard no response, the child opened the door, and crept over to his parents’ bed. He stood there for a moment, a frown on his face as he debated how to go about waking them. “Dad?” he whispered, looking expectantly at the inkling in bed. After getting no response again, he leaned over and placed a hand on his dad’s arm. “Dad?” he said again, this time louder as he shook his arm. 

Navy blinked rapidly, having been abruptly drawn from his sleep. “Mm? Bean?” 

“Dad I don’t feel good.” 

Eyebrows furrowed, Navy sat up, waking Sesame in the process. “What’s not for you feeling well?” 

As Bean climbed onto the bed, Sesame sat up, worry clear as day. “Beanie what’s wrong?” 

The child looked around, the only light was from the hall, spilling into the room from the open door. “My tummy hurts and I feel heavy. I’m tired.” 

Sesame frowned and grabbed at the child’s waist, pulling him close. “Beanie, you’re burning up. Navy?” 

As much as they didn’t want to, both parents knew they had to go to the hospital, it was better safe than sorry. “Get him dressed, I’ll get the car started.”

The entire drive, Sesame never stopped worrying over Bean, never took his eyes off of him, not as they piled into the car, not as they drove, not as they got out of the car, and not as they approached the counter in the emergency room. 

The nurse gave them a tired smile, working the ER at four in the morning was not a happy time. “Kid feeling sick?” Sesame nodded, eyes still not leaving his son. “If one of you can fill out the paperwork, the other can go on through to the waiting room.” 

Navy motioned for Sesame to go, he’d take care of the paperwork and join them shortly. With a worried sigh, Sesame nodded, and took Bean through the double doors, into the one place he never wanted to be. Hospitals never felt comfortable for him, they scared him; so much that could go wrong, that was or had gone wrong for someone. “Beanie, how are you feeling?” he asked, trying to distract himself. 

The young inkling clung got his dad with all the strength he had, it wasn’t much. “I hurt. Sleepy but hurt so no sleeping.” 

“What hurts?” 

“Tummy and feet.” 

The feet hurting was new, which set his father on edge. “What does it feel like, the hurt?” 

“Tummy is hot. Feet are cold but also like stepping on my building toys.” 

Sesame knew he had to keep it together, he had to hold strong, at least until Navy joined them; once he got there, he’d be okay, they’d be okay. Nervous about what was wrong with him, Sesame hunched over, enough to grab Bean’s foot; with a little trouble, he removed the shoe and squeezed it, watching for a reaction. Bean’s face didn’t change, so he removed the sock that covered his foot, and ran his fingers on the underside. 

There was no squirming, no laughter, no reaction to being tickled, whatever it was, had stopped the feeling in his feet at the least. “Beanie, can you look at me?” he asked as he sat up, holding the child tight to him. “Beanie?” 

“Daddy I’m sleepy.” Bean never completely looked up, he tried, but his head felt heavy, the late hour catching up to him. “Want bed.” 

“You’ll be in bed soon.” 

“Want... want home... bed.” 

To say the staff got excited when the child fell asleep was an understatement, two people coming over at the drop of a hat, Sesame barely had time to send one of the staff a worried glance. As best they could, no one tried to pull the child from him, until they absolutely had to; while he may and most likely had fallen asleep for being awake so long, no one wanted to take a chance. A few minutes before they could put Bean onto a gurney, Navy showed up, his heart pounding in his ears when he noticed the commotion around his family. 

“Sess?” 

“Navy. He just fell asleep, he was telling me he was sleepy but fell asleep mid sentence,” Sesame explained. Someone else beside him asked him something, though Navy couldn’t make out the question, nor the answer, over all the movement. 

The parents didn’t know where Bean was taken, all they knew was he was hopefully in the most capable hands possible. One nurse from all the excitement stayed behind to talk with them, though Sesame now clung to Navy, even as he explained what happened. “Beanie woke us up, said he wasn’t feeling well, and when I held him, he was burning up. Both at the house and here he mentioned his stomach hurting. At the house he said he felt heavy, but just now, he said his feet were cold and hurt, sharp pain. I took his shoe and sock off, but he didn’t react to me tickling his foot. He always squirms. I squeezed it too but still nothing.” 

Navy stared for a moment, trying to sort out in his head what was going on. “Couldn’t feel his feet? What the hell is happening.”

Whether or not he wanted an answer, the nurse gave him one. “They’re trying to figure that out now. With him asleep, we can draw ink easier and quieter. With any luck he’ll wake up after all the poking.” 

“Can’t we see him, be with him?” Sesame asked. 

“I’ll let you know what room they put him in.”

It was clear they wouldn’t get much else from the nurse, so they turned their attention to each other, trying to be as physically close as possible for comfort. “Navy, do you think you should call Hunter?” 

“I will in the morning, it would do no good to wake him up now.” 

“What about Zip? Vector? Pepper?” 

“Sess, shhh, I’ll call everyone as soon as the clock strikes seven, if Bean has been put in a room.” 

Waiting was the worst part, every ten minutes one would ask about Bean; no one could blame them, they worried for their son. Seven rolled around, and when asked, all the nurses could say was that they were waiting on the lab for results. It was seven thirty when they finally were told that Bean was in the paediatric ward, on the fourth floor. As soon as they could, they headed to the elevator, Navy already bringing up his phone to call everyone. 

“Hey Hunt,” he started, his voice extremely telling that something was wrong. “Bean’s in the hospital, just spent the night in the ER... no idea, we haven’t seen him yet... if you could that would be helpful. Okay, bye.” Sesame glanced at Navy, confusion and concern written all over his face. “He’s going to tell Vector and Zip, they’ll be dropping by this afternoon.” 

Next was Pepper, who was very disoriented getting woken up by a phone call. “Pepper... yes I know.. look, Bean is in the hospital... we don’t know, we’re going to soon hopefully... if you do, would you mind grabbing his blanket before hand? Thanks.” Navy slid his phone into his pocket, then reached and pulled Sesame close. “She’ll be here as soon as she can be, but she’s picking up Bean’s blanket.” 

“Thank you... Navy I’m scared.” 

“Hey, he’s in the best possible place to be, he’ll be okay.” 

That didn’t stop the worrying, though it wasn’t surprising to Navy; the two all but ran to the designated room when they finally reached the fourth floor, Sesame surprised that Bean had a room to himself. “I told them to, he’s not good with strangers,” Navy explained as they sat in the chairs the room had. It didn’t last long, as the one Navy sat in was a recliner for parents staying overnight with their kid, Sesame insisting Navy lay down, with him on top for the time being. 

As uncomfortable as it was, Navy readily agreed, he’d hurt himself if it meant his family was in a better spot. Unsurprising to Navy, Sesame had fallen asleep almost immediately after laying on him, the smaller inkling making soft sleep noises. Navy was content to lay there as his family slept, waiting for Pepper to get there with the blanket. 

When the octoling arrived, she peaked into the room, and at first thought everyone asleep; during the time it had taken her to get there, Navy had passed out as well, having no other choice once he grew tired enough. Pepper was as quiet as she could be, and gently laid the blanket she held on top of Bean, who turned over to face her, eyes half awake. “Auntie Pepper?” 

“Hey Beanie,” the octoling whispered, and crouched beside the bed. “How are you feeling?” 

“Hungry and I hurt a lot.” 

“I’ll go see if we can get you a snack, is it okay if I got for a minute?” 

The child nodded, though after the first nod his head began to hurt, and he had to stop. Pepper zipped from the room, while Bean grabbed hold of his blanket, it gave him some of the comfort needed; she found the nurses station quick enough, and was happy to learn he could at least have a snack. Unfortunately, she couldn’t find much by way of substance, there wasn’t much to be had, so she grabbed a half of a wrapped peanut butter sandwich, and made her way back. 

Along the way, she unwrapped the cling wrap around it, in hopes of it being quieter in the room. As she got back, she notice that Bean was sitting up, though was looking at the IV machine he was hooked up to with anxious eyes. “Beanie I got you a sandwich,” Pepper said softly as she crouched by his bedside once again. 

The kid took the sandwich, but didn’t eat it, the thing he was attached to had his attention. “Auntie what’s this?” 

“Hmm? That’s an IV machine. They put a really tiny needle in your hand,” she explained, pointing to his hand. “It lets them know how you’re doing on the inside, but also gives you medicine.” 

“It’s scary.” 

There was no denying the device was scary, so Pepper could only nod. “It is, but we can try to ignore it.” 

“I gotta go potty though.”

“Ah. Can you walk on your own?” 

As though it wasn’t that big a deal, he shook his head once. “Can’t feel my feet now.” 

That set Pepper on edge, enough to wake the sleeping parents. Both had been in a very light sleep, and in no time at all they were both wide awake, greeting Pepper. “Beanie says he needs the bathroom but can’t feel his feet.” 

Navy was over to the bed in an instant, picking the child up with one arm, and grabbing the machine with his other hand. As the two disappeared into the bathroom, Sesame gave Pepper the best smile he could manage. “Thank you for coming, it’s been a long morning.”

“Of course. I’m really worried about him though. He can’t feel his feet.”

“Yeah... I hope that’s reversible. We’ll manage if it’s not but...”

Pepper was quick to give him a hug, he seemed like he needed one. “He’s in the best place.”

“Yeah...” 

The two fell silent as they waited for Navy and Bean, who took a much longer time than either parent could have anticipated. Even when the two came out, neither Pepper or Sesame said anything, there was little to be said.

Navy was putting Bean back in the bed when there was a knock on the door, a nurse had come by to check on Bean, but another person had tagged along, requesting to talk with the parents in the hall. After Pepper assured them that she’d be with him, the two left, anxiety bubbling inside both. 

“What’s wrong with Beanie?” Sesame asked quietly, the door was still open. 

Navy grabbed hold of his hand, and held it tight; no matter what they were told, they’d get through this together. 

“It’s called Dosidicus disease, or Dosi disease for short.” The parents looked at the person with little understanding, neither had heard of it. “You can rest easier, it’s not fatal.” 

“Then what happens with it?” Navy asked, the anxiety still very much there. 

“The end result is an inability to change into his squid form once he matures. He’s mentioned loss of feeling in his feet, that will return most likely. What’s happening is he’s got an infection, and his body is working overtime to combat it, but also is tearing down more healthy areas too. My best advice, keep him here until it runs it’s course, then return home. Once he matures, then I suggest scheduling a few appointments to assess how bad it is.”

Sesame paled at the explanation, while relieved they wouldn’t lose their son, this was still far from ideal. “How bad can it get?” Navy asked, speaking what his husband was thinking. 

“Normally it’s a complete inability to change. There are cases that through physical therapy that the inkling can change, but in extreme pain. Most prefer to not change even if they can.” 

“Thank you,” Sesame mumbled, almost pulling Navy back to the room once the medical professional had left. “Navy, what should we do?” 

That, the inkling had no answer for; there was nothing that could be done in this instance. “Just help him feel better, if I had to guess.” 

That was more difficult than they thought, from figuring out what Bean would actually eat for lunch, to trying to lower the pain, to trying to entertain him to take his mind off of things. It did help that when the afternoon rolled around, Hunter, Vector, Zip and Bandi showed up, all trying to cram into the small room to see Bean. While the others stood and chatted with Bean and Sesame, Hunter pulled Navy into the hall, intent on finding out what was wrong. 

And so, Navy told him, and Hunter’s heart fell. “Can’t change into squid form? He can’t battle-“ 

“We’ll see. If he thinks he can when he gets old enough then we’ll try to get him in battles.” 

“Navy, if he can’t change, that’s a major handicap for his team.” 

Navy let out a huff. “I know that,” he hissed. “He’ll do his best.” 

“Yeah, I suppose he will. Oh, word of advice, keep Bean in his room. Two doors down is not a pretty sight.” 

“Noted. Thank you for coming at least.” 

Inside the room, Bean was being put in the centre of attention, even though he’d rather not be. Zip and Bandi had brought him some things to keep him busy. It made him smile, at least a little bit, knowing that he had so many people around him who cared. 

Vector stood off to the side, on a whole uncomfortable being in the hospital, and Sesame noticed the distance he gave. “You okay?” 

“Just worried...” 

“He’ll be okay...” Sesame said, though it sounded to Vector like the inkling was trying to convince himself of that.


End file.
